Skeptophilia (skep-to-fil-i-a) (n.) - the love of logical thought, skepticism, and thinking critically. Being an exploration of the applications of skeptical thinking to the world at large, with periodic excursions into linguistics, music, politics, cryptozoology, and why people keep seeing the face of Jesus on grilled cheese sandwiches.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Siri, conspiracy theories, and the Gates of Hell

It doesn't take much, unfortunately, to get the conspiracy theorists all shook up.

Take the discovery a couple of weeks ago that for certain Siri users, the question "What is July 27, 2014?" elicits a response of, "It's Sunday, July 27, 2014. Opening the Gates of Hades."

William Blake, Dante's Gates of Hell (1826) [image courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons]

Now, I can see how this could be a little startling. The last thing you want is to be checking your calendar and find out you'd scheduled a date on the day that the Beast With Seven Heads is supposed to eat one-third of humanity.

You can see how that could make dinner conversation a little awkward.

The reason for the weird response hasn't, as far as I've found, been explained yet. Some have said it's a joke planted there by a waggish programmer; others that it's some kind of weird glitch, similar to the one last year that directed users to Ron Paul's website if they asked questions about politics. The most popular explanation, however, seems to be that it has something to do with the first day of "Ghost Month" in certain traditional Chinese beliefs, on which (similar to Halloween) the gates of heaven and hell are said to open.

But of course, you can't have something like this occurring without the conspiracy theorists getting their knickers in a twist. Take a look at this YouTube video, courtesy of Alex Jones' nutty site InfoWars, where we are shown the Siri response and then told, "Let us know what you think in the comments section."

Here are a few selected samples of the result of that request:

Could they
be thinking about opening portals in the the spiritual world to bring
the devil into this world in another form through manifestation using
technology?

the abyss or the bottomless
pit is opened by an angel, thats after alot [sic] of other things have
happened. If so, the next 6 months gonna be a rough ride.﻿

Apple
obviously know something that the masses do not and this can be said
about all individuals in power.the government are nothing put [sic] puppets
and all these big organisations are the exact same.they all serve satan
and are trying to exexute [sic] that one goal﻿

what is troubling is the tunnel
they are carving through under the ground in seattle-something has
stopped it in its tracks-they want to open the seattle underground
tunnel in 2014 and something big is stopping there progress from going
any further with it-they are sending men inside this thing to take a
look and they are saying that something demonic is down there.

well, no
[sic] much surprise here, since many things are already programmed to be
done. To my point of view, and according to some prophecies summer 2014
seems to be doomed. Actually i believe that things will turn bad much
earlier. 2014 will be the year of WW3, i am pretty sure about it (again,
according to my sources)﻿

Okay, can all of you people just calm down for a minute?

What comes to mind about all of this nonsense is that the conspiracy theorists aren't seeing the fundamental underlying contradiction in their stance. They believe that the Illuminati are ultra-powerful, ultra-intelligent guys, with super technology, maybe even in cahoots with evil aliens, and yet are simultaneously so stupid that they would leave clues on Siri so easy to find that anyone checking their online calendars would ultimately stumble upon them.

I mean, you can't have it both ways. Either the Illuminati are intelligent, or they're not. If they're intelligent, they're not going to be found out by some clown who thinks that Alex Jones is the reincarnation of Einstein.

So, bottom line: could there be some kind of ultimate evil super-top-secret conspiracy?

Yes, I guess there could be. But then we wouldn't know about it. Because that's what "super top-secret" means.

Of course, this isn't about logic, is it? Rationality is the last thing these people are interested in; most conspiracy theorists take the religious paradigm ("believe this even though there's no evidence") and walk it one step further ("believe this because there's no evidence"). And once you're there, there's no arguing with you, is there?

My general take on this is that you shouldn't worry. If you are planning on a vacation to Costa Rica next summer, and will be leaving on July 27, don't apply for a refund quite yet. Whatever this Siri glitch is, I'll bet you cold hard cash that it has nothing to do with the End of the World.

And second, if I'm wrong, and the Gates of Hell open, might as well be in Costa Rica, right? I hear Costa Rica is really nice.

The Illuminati don't care anymore and blatantly stick it in your face.These last few years have been strong influence that they worship Lucifer.Read the Georgia Guide Stones 10 statements. 90% of human life theywant to eliminate..NWO is coming and a cashless society is next.

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Too bad the Illuminati are not interested in teaching their agents and members good English grammar and spelling. Of course, that's because they are hell-bend on World domination and worshipping Lucifer, no time for such trivial matters.

Hahaha...You made me laugh out loud on that one. It's true though, and it's sad that anyone would sell their soul to the Devil for a few toys in this life. God bless you, and anyone reading these comments. This is not an organization anyone should participate in.

Illuminati bla-bla, masons bla-bla-bla, world wide government, so full of it! All of this are in Russian propaganda today, people believe in shit like this, and then do what Russian terrorists do in Ukraine today. This is called a new type of war – hybrid war. That is why some of Americans become crazy; take guns and shoot at schools or at work people. I know what I am speaking. Classic.

A CHEMICAL FALSE FLAG WILL TAKE PLACE THIS SUMMER (2014) IN USA OR IN ISRAEL. THEY (USA & ISRAEL) WILL SIZEIT TO ATTACK SYRIA OR IRAN HENCE THE WW3 THAT WILL DESTROY BIG PARTS OF THIS PLANET. THEY ARE PREPARING FOR THE ARRIVAL OF ANTI CHRIST (A STUPID MAN THAT MADE A STUPID CHOICE) TO GOVERN THE NEW WORLD ORDER. BUT THEY WON'T ACHIEVE IT BECAUSE GOD HAS AN OTHER PLAN FOR THEM. STUPID ILLUMINATI.

What people dont understand is we are in the age of poseidon now,. King of the sea who has i three pronged spear trident..

Same as Ukraine flag or flight mh 370 Logo.. Even when u watch Superbowl Half time show It starts with prepare prepare for what?- Bruno Mars- Mars=planet for war and in march Ukraine went down... And then u have commercial about maserati there logo is the trident-

And the commercial ends We have been prepared now we strike...

Funny thing is Putin knows about this so he builds a massive statue of poseidon for the Sochi winter games... why? dont know..

Anyway They are programming the people with TV.. Using Greek mythology my problem is 2014 27 July =777

Then is not Poseidon anymore its Hades.. what it means? what do u think?